everybody, our start start this morning the fight over the cliff intensifies. remember that no tax hike pledge. new signs that the gop may be starting to rebel from that. maybe a compromise before the 35-day deadline passes. and congress gets back to work this morning. plus a power grab in egypt. mohamed morsi under fire for granting himself extraordinary powers. will that affect cease-fire talks between israel and hamas? they're happening in egypt today. >> and $59 billion! retail records broken as americans crowded stores for some competitive shopping over the weekend. and now cyber monday is here. will shoppers be in even more of a spending mood? >> you want to talk about money? a new powerball jackpot. a new record in the cash payout. it's unreal. >> a packed two hours ahead for you this morning. new jersey congressman bill pascrell will be joining us, grover norquist, jamie rubin, dr. hanan ashrawi, will be our

guest, peter billingsley from a christmas story, and grinle college hoops star jack taylor. remember him? big game he had the other day. and the one and only tony bennett, monday, november 26th. welcome, everybody, "starting point" this morning. is that a hint of compromise in the air on capitol hill? 35 days left till we reach the fiscal cliff. and a couple of key republicans are now suggesting that they're willing to forego their no tax pledge to try to get a budget deal done and avoid massive tax hikes, and spending cuts that will come in the new year. brand-new cnn/orc poll shows that is, in fact, affecting the american people. 68% say they believe falling off the fiscal cliff could trigger major problems for the country, maybe even a crisis. brings us to dan lothian at the white house this morning. dan, good morning.

senate goes back to work this afternoon. the house will return tomorrow. what could really be done by lame duck congress? >> well, look, the hope is that there will be some kind of compromise here, because as you pointed out most americans believe that if there is no agreement there really could be a crisis here. so you are seeing some softening from republicans who took that no tax pledge back to 1986. first it was saxby chambliss. now south carolina republican senator lindsey graham. take a listen. >> when you're $16 trillion in debt, the only pledge we should be making to each other is to avoid the coming grief, and republicans, republicans should put revenue on the table, we're this far in debt, we don't generate enough revenue. i want to buy down debt and cut rates to create jobs. but i will violate the pledge, long story short, for the good of the country, only if democrats will do entitlement reform. >> and i think that's important what he said there. only if democrats will do entitlements, as some democrats have pushed back on that. they do not think that that

should be on the table. as f americans, they believe that there should be a balance between spending cuts and tax increases. about 67%, according to a new cnn/orc poll say that 29% say only spending cuts. and who will get the blame if we don't reach some kind of agreement here? gop clearly gets the brunt of the blame here. 45% say the gop, 34% say president obama, 15% say both. now as congress returns here to washington, the white house coming out with a new report saying that if those bush-era tax cuts are not extended to middle-class americans, consumer spending over 2013 will drop by nearly $200 billion. this is an ongoing effort by this white house to help the middle class, and to ensure that wealthy americans pay a little bit more. soledad? >> dan lothian at the white house for us. thank you, dan. a lot happening in the middle east. overnight we learn that israel's defense minister, ehud barak is resigning his post. that's effective come january.

that development comes as delegations for both israel and hamas meet in cairo today. they're meeting with egyptian officials to try to advance those cease-fire talks. and egypt's president mohamed morsi will meet today with judges to explain his edict barring them from overturning any decision that he makes or any laws that he imposes until a new parliament is formed. reza sayah is in cairo this morning. let's start with mohamed morsi, please. >> yeah, good morning, soledad. a few thousand protesters still here in south tahrir squares, especially those who camped out over the past several days, still seeing some clashes. most of them triggered by what seem to be teenagers and twenty somethings out here looking for trouble. we also saw our first fatality of the protest last night on sunday in a northern city where a 15-year-old member of the muslim brotherhood youth movement was clubbed to death. at this point the brotherhood

doesn't seem to be using that fatality as a rallying cry to shore up support. but at the same time, it doesn't seem to be any indication that this conflict is coming to an end any time soon. the leaders of the opposition faction continue to demand mr. morsi to rescind his decrees. we just spoke to one of his senior advisers a couple of hours ago. he wants dialogue with the leading opposition factions. he didn't say anything about these decrees today. there are talks scheduled with the judges. but at this hour, no talks scheduled with the opposition factions. tomorrow big protests on both sides. both the opposing factions and mr. morsi the muslim brotherhood calling for 1 million man protests. >> interesting timing, of course, as they try to negotiate some kind of a peace treaty there or at least continuing relation of talks with the peace talks reza sayah for us. holiday shoppers in full force through black friday. did you go shopping, christine? >> heck no.

have you read my book, soledad? don't spend money you don't have. >> 247, that's a record, 247 million? >> it is a record number but it's stretched out over four days now. now the days are thursday through sunday. let me throw in cyber monday, right, so it all comes together in huge, huge four-day frenzy of buying. >> total spending of what was the number, up some -- >> then you she $59.1 billion. nearly 13% growth. but, from the another before you had about 16% growth. the industry telling us that this was a really good weekend. black friday used to just be friday after thanksgiving when you would try to spend all this money. now, it's on thanksgiving, after, you know, after your turkey you can go online or go out and go shopping. now they're hoping that today people will spend even more money online. what people buy over the weekend. we know they spent on average $423 soledad. last year they spent $398. they spent a little more on average over the weekend.

they both clothing and accessories. that was the number one destination. toys. and then books, cds, dvds, video games, electronics another big category. that rose almost every year. jewelry was 15.2%. as we know this is the worst time of the year, only valentine's day second for buying jewelry. but people did it anyway. and 32.6% -- >> our a romance killer. >> if you're going to get engaged you got to act now. that's what they say, right? online sales, what's really interesting. for the first time ever on friday online sales topped a billion. this has been this big shift. we're shopping longer over the thanksgiving holiday but we're also shopping online. even on thursday, you saw huge growth on actual thanksgiving, so between stirring the gravy and mashing the potatoes you could score some deals. in part because we're using technology much more to do our shopping now. >> there was like 70% off and then 25% off of the 70% off. >> and the deals were good. especially for certain kinds of electronics and the normal door busters if you get there.

but remember that we're going to be seeing deals throughout the rest of the year, too. now that the online factor is in there, you're going to be hearing a lot more about these sales. another question is, now through four days of buying, is this it for the holiday shopping? are people done? and have we seen the big boost, and the retailers-zpsh >> i haven't started. >> you haven't? >> auction wednesday and -- >> what's next? >> all the sort of made-up branded name days. >> i like it. >> because of technology. >> i'm giving you my half cold cup of coffee if you'll read the news stories coming up. >> sounds like a good deal. fire broke out at a garment factory in dhaka bangladesh is now under control with no deaths reported. it happened just two days after another fire killed at least 120 workers. authorities still do not know what caused the eight-story blaze saturday night. the factory is owned by a company which manufactures products for walmart and other companies in the u.s. and

europe. police in georgia say a suspected walmart shoplifter is dead after getting in a physical altercation with two employees and a security guard. investigators say the man left the store with two dvd players. employees and the security guard detained him, when police got there they say the employees were on top of the man, who was unresponsive, and bleeding from the nose and mouth. walmart is investigating. human error is to blame for a gas explosion that destroyed a strip club in springfield, massachusetts, last week. see the explosion right there. at least 21 people were injured by the blast, including 12 firefighters and 2 police officers. according to the fire marshal's office, the utility workers inadvertently punctured a hole in a high pressure gas line while responding to reports of a gas smell nearby. another sign life is slowly returning to normal in new jersey. path trains are back in service this morning after superstorm sandy swamped the system. you're seeing pictures there of the floodwater just gushing in.

millions of gallons of floodwater from the hurricane left the world trade center station submerged. it took nearly a month to pump it all out and fix the damage. so if you like to play the lottery, you may want to stock up on tickets for wednesday's record powerball jackpot. with no grand prize winner, the jackpot is now up to $425 million. that may not be it. the number could go even higher depending on ticket sales over the next few days. the previous high for powerball was $365 million, that was a ticket sold in 2006. you're just dreaming right now. soledad is lost in her dreams. >> i'm trying to decide would i call in and tell people i'm not coming in to work or would i just stay in bed and not bother. >> what would you buy? >> i wouldn't buy a thing. actually, i'd fund a lot of programs. i'd send a lot of people to college. i don't need stuff. >> she's better than me. >> you have everything. what do you mean?

>> -- i got a few things i could think of. >> please, please. all right moving ahead this morning. and still ahead on "starting point," congress, will congress come to a compromise, and avoid the fiscal cliff? or will we just go right over? we're going to talk to congressman bill pascrell who sits on the house budget committee. and emergency contraception for teenagers. the controversial new recommendation from doctors this morning. pizza palace gets the most rewards of any small business credit card! pizza!!!!! [ garth ] olaf's small business earns 2% cash back on every purchase, every day! helium delivery. put it on my spark card! [ pop! ] [ garth ] why settle for less? great businesses deserve the most rewards! awesome!!! [ male announcer ] the spark business card from capital one. choose unlimited rewards with 2% cash back or double miles on every purchase, every day! what's in your wallet? ♪

♪ [ male announcer ] you've been years in the making. and there are many years ahead. join the millions of members who've chosen an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. go long. [ gordon ] for some this line is a convenience. how you doing today? i'm good thanks. how are you? i'm good. [ gordon ] but for others, it's all they can afford. every day nearly nine million older americans don't have enough to eat. anything else? no, not today. join me, aarp, and aarp foundation in the drive to end hunger by visiting drivetoendhunger.org. with scottrader streaming quotes, any way you want. fully customize it for your trading process --

from thought to trade, on every screen. and all in real time. which makes it just like having your own trading floor, right at your fingertips. [ rodger ] at scottrade, seven dollar trades are just the start. try our easy-to-use scottrader streaming quotes. it's another reason more investors are saying... [ all ] i'm with scottrade. it's cramping. go ice that thing. sorry. hand cramp. ahh. [ male announcer ] cyber monday is back. shop now for great savings with free shipping. the first and only place to go for cyber monday. walmart.com. starts with ground beef, unions, and peppers baked in a ketchup glaze with savory gravy and mashed russet potatoes. what makes stouffer's meatloaf best of all? that moment you enjoy it at home. stouffer's. let's fix dinner. cool, you found it. wow. nice place. yeah. [ chuckles ] the family thinks i'm out shipping these. smooth move. you used priority mail flat-rate boxes.

if it fits, it ships for a low, flat rate. paid for postage online and arranged a free pickup. and i'm gonna track them online, too. nice. between those boxes and this place, i'm totally staying sane this year. do i smell snickerdoodles? maybe. [ timer dings ] gotta go. [ male announcer ] priority mail flat rate boxes. online pricing starts at $5.15. only from the postal service. welcome back. minding your business. u.s. stock futures pointing to a lower open. the stocks had a pretty good day friday. the dow, nasdaq and s&p 500 all gained more than 1%. the dow closing above 13,000 for the first time since the election. this week, the focus turns back to the u.s. economy now the fiscal cliff talks are looking

more promising and the election is behind us. new reports this week on the housing market, manufacturing sector and consumer data. also the second estimate for third quarter gdp comes out on thursday. the broadest gauge of the health of the economy and economists think that number is going to show better growth than we saw, 2.8% down from 2.2% that they had thought earlier. the fiscal cliff being, you know, something that really helped the stock market last week. >> i would imagine. >> don't screw up. >> please, congress, don't mess this up. let's take a live look this morning at the capitol dome where congress is back to work this week. s fiscal cliff staring them in the face. 35 days, we go right over that cliff or right down that slide or whatever the metaphor is we're using today. politicians on both sides of the aisle are now signaling that they're willing to compromise. that includes republicans who've been softening their stance on raising taxes. senator dick durbin, democrat from illinois, weighed in on abc's "this week." >> from my side of the table,

bring entitlement reform into the conversation. social security sed aside. doesn't add to the deficit. but when it comes to medicare and medicaid, protect the integrity of the program but give it solvency for more and more years. >> congressman bill pascrell is a democrat from new jersey. thank you for talking with us. >> soledad, how are you this morning? >> i'm really well, thank you. i've had many, many days off. what are the democrats willing to give? you heard dick durbin there. tick off for me and be specific, what are democrats willing to give on in this negotiation? >> well, i think the senator's absolutely correct, we need to compromise. there's no question about that. and we will not, however, in any way, shape or form, jeopardize the planned benefits for social security. i mean that's kind of installed in the american people. we changed social security over the years in order to meet the demands that the program insists upon. we will do that. but we'll do that in a bipartisan fashion. >> okay, so compromise.

social security is off the table. medicare, walk me through what are the changes here? >> we've already -- we have already cut benefits. we have already cut dollars for medicare. but not benefits. and we will not compromise on the question of guaranteed benefits of medicare. >> what do you compromise on? >> we can change medicare. as you well know, we save medicare $750 billion -- million dollars and that was because of the medicare advantage program. which was unfair for the rest of those of us who do not have medicare advantage. but there were no cutting. in fact there's more benefits now in medicare. we want to stay with a general budget. the math doesn't add up if you simply say we're going to do away with some of the deductions. in order to get the cuts that are necessary, in order to get the revenue that's necessary, we will have to raise some rates. or else the math doesn't work at all. >> are you -- >> i think the president's direction was absolutely correct, during the campaign,

and after the campaign, you know politicians have a knack of changing things when the election is over, actually, and i think he stayed on course, to about $3 of cuts and a dollar for increase in revenue. and while i'll not say general protocol i think that's the direction we should be going. >> so are you open to limiting deductions versus raising taxes? >> well, we may -- look, limit the deductions for those making over $250,000. we may limit those deductions for those making over $1 million. what the figure is, what the dollar figure is, is one thing. what the principle is, is another. and i think we'd be working to a compromise on the very question that you asked. >> so let me ask you a question about the unions. of course unions, big democratic supporters, the afl-cio spokesperson jeff houser said not a single day more of the bush tax cuts for the 2%, protect social security and medicare and medicaid other unions have said listen we're

going to put pressure on congress to raise taxes on the wealthy, keep entitlements off the table. that sounds like a very noncompromising position, and with democrats kind of caught in the middle. how do you do both of those things? >> well, look, this is a starting point. when you're negotiating, we start negotiations the week before thanksgiving. i thought that it was moving in a healthy direction. i see since then that some republicans have said that they're willing to put revenue on the table. what kind of revenue they're talking about? that could be another question altogether, soledad. >> how tricky is this going to be for republicans? you saw, and i'll play a little chunk of this, two prominent republicans joined senator saxby chambliss in saying that they would be willing to potentially break that pledge, the americans for tax reform pledge, grover norquist, let's play a little bit of that for you. >> sure. >> when you're $16 trillion in debt, the only pledge we should be making to each other is to

avoid the coming grief and republicans should put revenue on the table. i want to buy down debt and cut rates to create jobs but i will violate the pledge, long story short, for the good of the country, only if democrats will do entitlement reform. >> i agree entirely with saxby chambliss. a pledge you signed 20 years ago, 18 years ago is for that congress. for instance if i were in congress in 19d 41 i would have signed a support of declaration of war against japan. i'm not going to attack japan today. the world has changed. >> so, ultimately, if both of them sound like they're saying listen we're willing to break that pledge. what will the impact be do you think if that happens, and does -- to compromise even more? >> the devil is in the details, as you well know. i'm glad that some of the republicans, and there are a few moderates left, and thank god for that, they're willing to -- they do understand that the math doesn't just add up. if you simply take revenue off the table. you can't do that. we're willing to put everything on the table.

there are certain things we will not put on the table, which is social security. we will not reduce the benefits for medicare. we will not support anything that goes in that direction. however, anything else other than that, we could talk about. >> but you just -- sir you just said we're willing to put everything on the table and then what followed that was but not this, but not that, and but not this. >> but not social security. that was what the election was all about. either you mean it or you don't mean it. and we meant it. there are other things that we should talk about. how much revenue? well, what are the deductions situation? for instance, i would not support a -- for new jersey, for instance, if you took the mortgage deduction off -- mortgage interest off the table, or put it on the table. that would ruin our housing market altogether. we're a high tax state. we're one of the givers to the economy, state of new jersey. i couldn't accept that. i wouldn't be doing justice.

so there are certain things that you put on the table. and while everything may be on the table, you negotiate it, and see what you can get back. >> congressman bill pascrell, democrat from the state of new jersey. >> soledad, it's a pleasure. >> we're going to be talking with grover norquist straight ahead this morning. he's going to respond to some of these high-ranking republicans saying that they'd be willing to, to rip up, i guess, essentially that, that pledge. ahead on "starting point" we're also going to talk about some new recommendations from doctors, little controveial this morning, should teenagers be given prescribed emergency contraception, even before they need it? our "starting point" team is heading in to talk about that and much more.

welcome back, everybody.

our team this morning, we're talking to chrisystia freeland. and kelly anne conway is with us. roland martin is going to be joining us -- >> i'm coming! >> let's talk about this what i think is kind of a controversial recommendation. it is the academy of american academy of pediatrics encouraging doctors to talk about emergency contraception with adolescent patients when they are discussing safe sex. they say doctors should have it on hand for those who need it right away, and also be willing to write prescriptions for teenagers for future use. the goal is to fight back against teenage pregnancy. u.s. has one of the highest rates among developed countries. nearly 80% of teen pregnancies are unplanned. what do you think? would you support having your teenage, i guess, daughter, walk around with a prescription from the doctor for emergency contraception? >> no. because i'm always available by

cell phone or e-mail. i think that these teenagers who can't go see an r-rated movie unless they're 17, can't get their ears pierced without a parent there, can't drive until a certain age, i mean the idea -- >> don't end up with a baby at the end, though -- >> -- one article -- >> could actually have sex without a parent's presence and indeed most teenagers prefer to have sex that way. so i would definitely like my kids to have that. >> i -- in terms of a doctor prescribing this and a parent not knowing, i have an issue with that. but i certainly believe that doctors should have this conversation. because the mistake that we always make in this country, we leave to the parents, we assume the parent actually has the conversation. and too often they actually don't. and so you should have a medical professional having that kind of conversation. >> a 13-year-old and an 18-year-old are not the same people, either. so when i read an article like this which is less than a page, first time i'm hearing about it,

i want to know is it more narrowly prescribed? who are we talking about here? will the parents be involved? and also, you know, who defines what the emergency is? >> well, health side effects of a prescription is also a critical issue. >> except having also read this one-page article that say there are no side effects. >> well i always hear that when it comes to prescriptions. >> on "starting point" we're talking about a minister who is resigning as the fragile middle east -- east cease-fire -- will the latest developments put peace in jeopardy? we'll discuss that with jamie rubin, former assistant secretary of state under president clinton. a lot to talk about there. with verizon. this monday online only. get the droid razr by motorola in cranberry, free. or a white 7-inch

samsung galaxy tab 2, just $99.99. this holiday, get the best deals on the best devices on the best network. exclusively at verizon.

woman: what do you mean, homeowners insurance doesn't cover floods? [ heart rate increases ] man: a few inches of water caused all this? [ heart rate increases ] woman #2: but i don't even live near the water. what you don't know about flood insurance may shock you -- including the fact that a preferred risk policy starts as low as $129 a year. for an agent, call the number that appears on your screen. good morning, welcome back, everybody. john berman starts us off with a look at the top stories.

>> good morning. remember that anti-islam filmmaker behind the crude and controversial short film "innocence of muslims." he's now talking from jail through his attorney to "the new york times." and nakoula basilly nakoula says he has no regrets about making the film or how he treated the cast. he said the cast signed contracts that howed changes to the script. in addition to deadly protests the film also led to nakoula's arrest for violating supervised release on a fraud conviction. no report on what caused a fire aboard an 80 foot yacht in the water near miami beach. the vessel was completely engulfed in flames. three people on board jumped into the water and were arrested by the coast guard. there were no reports of injures. lucky there. a popular prescription medication now under recall. 41 batches of atorvastatin calcium are being pulled from pharmacies because they may contain small particles of glass. this is the generic version of lipitor. the manufacturer ranbaxy says the recall affects bottles

containing 10, 20 and 40 milligram tablets. can you say side effects? heck of a side effect there. republican attacks on susan rice seem to be easing this morning. just last week arizona senator john mccain insisted he do everything in his power to block rice's potential nomination to become secretary of state. he blasted her for telling americans the september attack on the u.s. consulate in benghazi was triggered by an anti-islam video. mccain now dialing it back a bit on the sunday morning talk shows. >> i give everyone the benefit of explaining their position, and the actions that they took. i'll be glad to have the opportunity to discuss these issues with her. >> rice claims everything she says in the aftermath of the benghazi attack was based on information provided by u.s. intelligence officials. the defending super bowl champion new york giants, it was good. a 38-10 drubbing of the green bay packers last night. eli manning threw three

touchdown passes to end a two-game losing streak and knock the packers out of first place. their first place tie with chicago in the nfc north, and check this out, third quarter showers. causing a delay in the seahawks/dolphin game in miami. the stadium sprinkler system mal functioned. it thought it was saturday. the players managed to dry off. the dolphins went on to beat the seahawks 24-21. amazing, right? all right. more football. notre dame football fans they're waiting to find out who notre dame is going to play for the national championship game. the top ranked irish capped off a perfect season with a victory saturday over usc as roland said, they will almost certainly play the winner of this weekend's s.e.c. title game between georgia and alabama. i think you for a preview of the news. >> alabama, so -- >> all right. let's turn back to the middle east this morning. the israeli defense minister ehud barak is resigning. says he wants to spend more time

with his family. and he's leaving as the fragile cease-fire between israel and gaza is just holding. meantime the egyptian president mohamed morsi is going to meet today with egypt's supreme judicial council where he'll address criticism and protests of the vast new expansion of his powers just one day after he helped broker the middle east cease-fire. morsi declared immunity from any judicial checks and balances while egypt's new constitution was being drafted. a move that many say will grant the new leader virtually unlimited power. jamie rubin, former assistant sect under president clinton currently serves as counselor for competitive of international affairs for new york governor andrew cuomo. nice to have you with us. let's talk first about ehud barak. when anybody says i'm going to spend more time with my family all the red flags go up. but he's an elderly gentleman. what really is happening there? it's an interesting time for him to announce his departure. >> i think he's concluded that politics, meaning running for office, winning the votes of the

israeli public, is not going to work for him this time around. i don't think he's ruled out being in the cabinet. and a future netanyahu government. the truth is ehud barak is very well respected around the world and well respected among the security professionals. but on the political sphere, he really has had a rough time ever since he was prime minister, and stepped down. so i think he's giving up the political game, but i don't think he's giving up completely the idea of being part of a future cabinet. >> this would happen in january so he's spending time with family, probably not really -- >> not so much. he's spending time with your family is often a euphemism. i'm sure he will -- >> yes, i've noticed. >> get a little more time. >> all right let's move on to talk a little bit about mohamed morsi. this expansion of his powers really sent a lot of people right into tahrir square where they were beginning to very much question sort of his motivation there. do you think he has said it's

necessary until the constitution is created. what do you make of this? >> i think we're seeing again in tahrir square the politics of egypt play you out. and often during the so-called revolution, and the mubarak government made a particular decision one waited to see how many people would come out to show how possible that decision was. this is the second time the muslim brotherhood has broken a vow. the first time was when morsi decided despite the promise that he would run for president. they had said they wouldn't do that. now, he's basically declaring himself a dictator as it relates to specific judicial decisions. and this brings to mind all the fears that people in that part of the world have had about the muslim brotherhood when it comes to democracy. i think the u.s. has to make absolutely clear that we will not work closely with him if he, indeed, follows through on this decision. that we will make our -- >> but he's negotiating peace right now, and he's talking to -- >> well, that's the problem.

that's the problem. look i don't think that morsi right now is going to enter into a serious peace negotiation between israel and hamas and the palestinians. i think that's on hold. i think they got the cease-fire. but i wouldn't expect a big piece negotiation to follow. what's really going to happen is he's going to figure out why he can get this constitutional change through. my suspicion is that he will walk some of it back. try to limit it down to the most narrow question of whether this constitutional assembly can go forward. but he's raised all the fears the people have had -- >> -- encouraging, including from some people close to him. >> well, yes, and i think the fact that his justice minister is responding saying that he's gone too far, the fact that some people have resigned, this is their democratic process at work. but in the end, you know, there has been a long-standing reluctance in egypt to accept the islamic -- the muslim

brotherhood, despite his winning the election. >> that should be within of how they're dealing with democracy. i interviewed general colin powell a few weeks ago and he said this should have been expected, and it is natural when you have a democracy trying to form itself, trying to get their footing, many folks think we have a democracy kit, open it up, six days later, everything is great. this is what we should be expecting these sort of type of things here. >> well i think that's right. they're working their way through their system. they've never had a real democratic system. they've had essentially rulers, dictators of some kind or another. plut the problem, as soledad pointed out, is that since so many of our eggs in the middle east are in morsi's basket, the middle east peace process, how to deal with iran, how to deal with terrorism, we have a huge stake in this. it's not just a question of how egypt's democracy will play out. it's a question of whether the region will be stable, whether

we'll get support if we need to confront iran, over the nuclear question. as we pull back in the world, we've put much more of our national security in the hands of someone who's really an amateur at this democratic process. >> would you agree with senator mccain to just reject what morsi is trying to do? because clearly he's at odds with what the people want. i mean people are well on their way to democracy. and i think just given the advent of technology and the fact that all eyes are on egypt, dictators like this will never be able to be dictators again. will never be able to amass their power against people who clearly want democratization. >> i certainly hope you're right and i do think that it's correct that we need to make our views known and clear, but we have to be, also, aware of the fact that our other interests, whether it's with the israelis, whether it's with iran, are at stake here. and that's why this is so difficult for us. >> and -- >> -- like russia. and interesting timing for all of this, right, between this and ehud barak's, interesting to

watch. jamie rubin always nice to have you with us. coming up at the top of the hour we're going to talk more about what's happening in the middle east with dr. hanan ashrawi of the palestinian liberation organization. still ahead on "starting point," you know all that confetti that was raining down on thanksgiving day parades. wasn't that fabulous? well, actually, it was very sensitive information. oops. social security numbers, things like that. also, the man who played one of the most beloved characters in movie history, peter billingsley, ravel if i, ta ral, talks about the new musical. we're back in just a moment. ti . because your daughter really wants that pink castle thing. and you really don't want to pay more than you have to. only citi price rewind automatically searches for the lowest price. and if it finds one, you get refunded the difference. just use your citi card

and register your purchase online. have a super sparkly day! ok. [ male announcer ] now all you need is a magic carriage. citi price rewind. buy now. save later.

citi price rewind. music is a universal language. but when i was in an accident... i was worried the health care system spoke a language all its own with unitedhealthcare, i got help that fit my life. information on my phone. connection to doctors who get where i'm from. and tools to estimate what my care may cost. so i never missed a beat. we're more than 78,000 people looking out for more than 70 million americans. that's health in numbers. unitedhealthcare.

welcome back, everyone. americans are mourning the loss of an heroic civil rights activist. lawrence guyot survived threats, severe beating and jail time leading a voter registration drive in 1964. in recent years he suffered from heart problems. guyot died late last week at home. he was 347 years old. a woman from st. petersburg florida is learning the hard way you shouldn't mess with a manatee. ana gloria garcia gutierrez was arrested saturday after being photographed two months ago riding a manatee. in florida, it is illegal to harass manatees or ride them. she faces up to six months in jail, and a $500 fine if convicted. >> you should just not be riding manatees. go ahead. >> i think a lot of people are now learning for real, you know, the impact of doing that. that's for sure.

some people -- >> i'm all for protecting animals. >> thank you for making that disclaimer. some people who turned out to watch the macy's thanksgiving day parade last thursday found out the confetti raining down on them contained sensitive personal information such as social security numbers. that's right. turns out the confetti was made up of shredded documents from the nassau county new york police department. an investigation under way to determine how that happened. >> speaking of which -- bad stuff. >> anyway, still ahead on "starting point," so it is one of the most famous scenes from the holiday movie. remember this? >> you'll shoot your eye out, kid. >> now, it's all gone to broadway. ralphie, aka peter billingsley, talks about the new "a christmas

story" musical coming up next. the first time... tr to investing with knowledge. the potential of td ameritrade unlocked. nyse euronext. unlocking the world's potential. to a world of super-connected intelligence. the potential of freescale unlocked. nyse euronext. unlocking the world's potential. yep. the longer you stay with us, the more you save. and when you switch from another company to us, we even reward you for the time you spent there. genius. yeah, genius. you guys must have your own loyalty program, right? well, we have something. show her, tom. huh? you should see november! oh, yeah? giving you more. now that's progressive. call or click today.

thor's couture gets the most rewards of any small business credit card. your boa! [ garth ] thor's small business earns double miles on every purchase, every day! ahh, the new fabrics, put it on my spark card. [ garth ] why settle for less? the spiked heels are working. wait! [ garth ] great businesses deserve the most rewards! [ male announcer ] the spark business card from capital one. choose unlimited rewards with double miles or 2% cash back on every purchase, every day! what's in your wallet? [ cheers and applause ]

you'll shoot your eye out, kid. merry christmas. ho, ho, ho. >> no! >> so, i mean, everyone knows that scene. it's one of the many memorable moments in the 1983 holiday cult film favorite "a christmas story" set in indiana in the '40s. it's a story of 9-year-old ralphie and his obsession to get an air rifle for christmas with

a compass. his parents won't let him because like santa says, it will shoot your eye out. he's all grown up, acting as a producer for the new broadway stage adaptationadaptation. ♪ i'm on my way, ralphie to the resc rescue, oh ♪ ♪ ralphie to the rescue, oh, one thing to do, now that ♪ >> that's "ralphie to the rescue," one of the great scenes in the show. co-producer peter billingsley is here. this time of year you're about to see the movie on tv 24 hours a day every day until christmas time. do you still remember the experience? >> absolutely. i was 12 years old. it was a very little film.

took about 12 years to get made. at the time when it came out, modest returns at the box office. mediocre reviews. you thought that was it. slowly cable and video started to come out. the film kept come ing. now it's a 24 hour marathon. kind of crazy. >> we'll have to deal with it. you're pretty good as ralphie. why put it on stage? >> when you have -- i have not done any of it. when i heard a musical, i thought, gosh, that's a great idea. to give you an example, you've seen the show. when the dad wins the leg lamp, we turn into a leg lamp kickline. >> it has all the iconic scenes

in the film including the leg lamp. let's take a look. >> this is a lamp! >> that's obviously the film version. on the stage there's a kick line with the leg lamps. >> that's the fun of musical theater. you can take a lot of spirit of these scenes but take them to bigger, more fun places. we have an 8-year-old who won the fred astaire award. he can tap dance on his toes. a lot of the fantasy scenes is like that cowboy scene in the film. i got excited when i heard about it. got involved three years ago. went to seattle, did a run. went to chicago. much like the film sort of this little movie that built up, the show built up and is now on broadway. >> can you sing? >> no, no, no. these are talents i don't have, never had. the singing, dancing. >> how do you explain to these 12-year-old kids with amazing voices what this idea, what this story means? >> they kind of explain it to you. they're carrying these talents

through. when you do a movie you get a couple months. it's relaxing. you get a trailer. multiple takes. if you're sick, it doesn't matter. they've got to go every night. eight shows a week. these kids plow through. they're all fans of the movie. what i like, every karcharacter it's their own interpretation. they're not trying to mimic the characters in the film. song and dance takes it to such a different level anyway? >> what's the one thing that makes it work so well both on screen and on stage? >> i think certainly on screen it was one of the first real portrayals of a family, i think. it wasn't that kind of indy film dark version. it's timeless today. that's a family. it's a little messy but there's a lot of love. you're trying to navigate things. i think christmas for most people is about the small things. trying to get a free, make dinner, make a turkey. it's that overcommitment to the mundane things we all go through that makes it relatable. it looks like my family.

that dad's a lot like my dad. that mom's a lot like my mom. >> did you own a bb gun? >> i did. shot a bird. felt horrible. >> did you ever shoot your eye out? >> no. i went to an eyeglass store here in the city. got them. i was completely blind. >> great to see you. love the movie. love the play. it's on broadway right now. >> thanks so much. still ahead this morning on "starting point" kdozens of republicans promised they'd never raise taxes. some are talking about taking it back. we'll talk to grover norquist. where this is heading. my one on one interview with the legendary tony bennett. he's not slowing down after six decades in show business. his new documentary, new album and his new memoir. plus his real hobby which is painting. we're back in a moment.

and with photo stream, you can share all the photos you want, with just the people you want. it's as easy as pie. mmmm..pie. i have a cold, and i took nyquil, but i'm still "stubbed" up. [ male announcer ] truth is, nyquil doesn't unstuff your nose. what? [ male announcer ] it doesn't have a decongestant. no way. [ male announcer ] sorry. alka-seltzer plus fights your worst cold symptoms plus has a fast acting decongestant to relieve your stuffy nose. [ sighs ] thanks! [ male announcer ] you're welcome. that's the cold truth! [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus. ♪ oh what a relief it is! ♪ [ male announcer ] to learn more about the cold truth and save $1 visit alka-seltzer on facebook.

[ male announcer ] to learn more about the cold truth let's say you want to get ahead how do you get from here... to here? at university of phoenix we're moving career planning forward so you can start figuring that out sooner. ln fact, by thinking about where want your education to lead, while you're still in school, you might find the best route... leads somewhere you weren't even looking. let's get to work.

morning. welcome, everybody. our starting point this morning, the fiscal cliff deadline now just 35 days away. this morning some republicans are talking about possibly taking back their pledge for no tax hikes. we'll talk about that change of heart with the man behind the pledge, grover norquist. plus, egypt's movhamed mors gives himself unprecedented powers as cease fire talks between israel and hamas happen in this country today. will the controversy present a peace deal? cyber monday is hereafter americans broke retail records at the stores this weekend. we're spending lots of money. how can you save? i'll tell you. sports history. a college sophomore scores 138 points in a single basketball game. we're going to talk to jack taylor. he's going to tell us how he accomplished this ridiculous feat. a packed show for you this morning. we'll talk with grover norquist with the americans for tax

reform. and the one and only tony ben it. that's all ahead this morning, monday, november 26th. "starting point" begins right "starting point" begins right now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com welcome, welcome, everybody. our team this morning, rowland martin is cnn's political analyst. host of "washington watch" on tv one. chrystia freeland. republican pollster kellyanne conway is with us. you were so right in all your polling. >> i didn't make in friends. but i have a lot of -- >> have they apologized? >> not really. their modeling is going to improve. >> i would imagine. "early start" co-anchor john berman. christine romans sticks around as well. let's talk about lame duck

lawmakers heading back to work today. they have 35 days to figure out how to keep the country from falling off the fiscal cliff. saxby chambliss and lindsay graham on record saying they'd be willing to break their no tax pledge to get a deal done. according to to a brand-new cnn/orc poll that's what the american people like to hear. 68% of those polled say the fiscal cliff could present major problems for this country or even a crisis because of massive spending cuts and tax hikes it would trigger. we begin with dan loet ylothian. he's at the white house. what do you realistically expect? take a guess for me. what do you expect from this kind of lame duck congress? >> soledad, the hope is there can be compromise and there can be agreement because, as you pointed out, the americans out there believe there could be a crisis here if an agreement is not reached. you're seeing as you pointed out as well that republicans are softening this -- their approach when it comes to tax hikes.

this is a no tax hike pledge they made back in 1986. first it was senator saxby chambliss who backed away from that. now you have senator lindsey graham as well who weighed in over the weekend. take a listen. >> i want to buy down debt and cut rates to create jobs. but i will violate the pledge, long story short, for the good of the country, only if democrats will do entitlement reform. >> of course, entitlement, that is the key. president obama has indicated in the past willingness to put entitlements on the table. those on the left of his party, his base, do not want entitlements to be part of this. americans believe there should be a mix of both not only spending cuts but also tax increase according to a cnn/orc poll. 67% say that. 29% say only spending cuts. as for who will get the blame if we, in fact, do go off that fiscal cliff, 45% say the gop. 34% say president obama.

15% say both. now, as congress returns to washington, the white house coming out with a new report saying that if taxes go up on those middle class families, those making less than $250,000 a year, consumer spending will drop next year by nearly $200 billion. that's a continuing effort by this white house to show that middle-class families need relief. wealthier americans need to pay more. soled soledad? >> appreciate the update. grover norquist is the author of "debacle: obama's war on jobs and growth and what we can now do to regain our future." talk a little more about the impact of what stepping away from this tax pledge would be. nice to see you, grover. thank you for joining us. you heard lindsey graham a moment ago. peter king talked about saxby chambliss as well. here's what he said. >> i agree entirely with saxby

chambliss. a pledge you signed 20 years ago, 18 years ago, is for that congress. for instance, if i were in congress in 1941 i would have signed -- supported a declaration of war against japan. i'm not going to attack japan today. the world has changed. >> senator john mccain weighed in as well. here's what he said. i'm sorry. let me read to you what he said. fewer and fewer people are signing this, quote, pledge. do you worry that this pledge is losing its grip on lawmakers? >> look, soledad, as you know, the people making this case, the three -- the two senators and the congressman that were put forward, they all said that two years ago when we were arguing over the debt ceiling limit. so their position hasn't changed. and during the debt ceiling limit we cut spending, we didn't raise taxes. so other republicans did not listen to peter king or these others and say, oh, let's go raise taxes. they're speaking for themselves. i do want to correct one thing. peter king knows -- congressman

peter king of new york noknows full well the pledge he signed and others, it's for while you're in congress, not a two-year period. >> it sounded to me he was sort of saying you have to re-up it for it to be legal or whatever the right word is. >> first of all, it's explained to everyone when they sign, it's in writing with them when they sign that it's a commitment while you're in -- while you're in the house or while you're in the senate. you run for a different office, you take it again. and so the congressman from ohio is leaving -- it doesn't pass the laugh test. that's an odd position. if you want to go to your voters and say i promised you this and i'm breaking my promise, you can have that conversation with them. but you don't have an argument with me. you've made a commitment to your voters. >> but it is, to some degree, i know you like to sort of step back and act as if that you don't really have that much to

do with the pledge. but the pledge does come from you. i've read a lot. last week when we were talking you sort of said the same thing. we've shown this a million times. this comes. americans for tax reform. you're the founder. you're the president. this is really your pledge. you mail it in to you in washington, d.c. right? >> we share it. it's on our website. we share it with voters. we encourage candidates to make a commitment. look, when you come to washington, you have one of two choices. you can either reform government so it spends less and works better or raise taxes to keep doing all the things we've been doing that haven't worked very well. we do need spending restraint. and it would also be nice to have more revenue. if we had reagan levels of growth in this country for the recovery instead of obama's recovery, reagan's recovery versus obama's recovery, 10 million americans who are today out of work would have jobs. >> so do you worry, though --

>> taxes would be -- revenue would be higher. >> with negotiation in the air, do you worry that people are going to turn and basically rip up their pledges? because as much as you say the three we've heard from is sort of old news, i think there's a lot of sense that they could inspire other republicans who have signed this pledge that gets mailed back to you, you know, to do the same thing. do you worry about that, that your pledge becomes kind of moot? >> you talked about mailing it to me. sh chambliss had a blow-up of it when he ran his campaign. his signature didn't go away. >> i fwgot you on that. do you have a concern if more republicans say, listen, we've got to compromise. this is now going to be on the table. the pledge starts to lose its grip, one, are you concerned about that? two, what do you do about that? do you now target the republicans changing their mind with the money your organization

raises and puts to elections? >> first of all, no pledge taker has voted for a tax increase. you've had some people discussing impure thoughts on national television. however, even lindsey graham if you listen to him, he would support higher taxes if it was used to pay down the debt. of course, it won't be. it would be spent. if he got, you know, 10-1 ratios on entitlement reform. i've had long conversations with lindsey graham. he says i would raise taxes if. then he lists this incredible list of reforms and entitlements that the democrats would never give him. i suggested, senator, you're offering to trade a tax increase for a pink unicorn that doesn't exist. >> you're saying this is never going to happen. because if a republican says, you know what, i am actually not going to go with the pledge that i have signed and i'm going to, you know, do this compromise and vote for that, would you then target that lawmaker? would you say, you know, you're

lying. you changed your mind from the pledge. now i'm going to put the substantial weight and efforts of your organization to try to unseat that republican candidate? >> george hervert walker bush broke his commitment to the american people. i don't think the americans for tax reform even put out a press release. somehow the american people figured out he broke his commitment. he couldn't get 38% of the vote when he ran in a general. he didn't lose in a primary. he lost in a general election. raising taxes is bad for the economy. we ought to be growing the economy. if we grew -- >> you're wearing me out today, grover. i hear you. would you target someone? >> we would certainly highlight who has kept their commitment and who hasn't. but the point is historically the people who lose do so because the people in their state have figured that out. look, two quick things. we ought to have these negotiations in front of c-span cameras. >> i support that.

>> so that not just you have me on here saying shouldn't you raise taxes, you should ask the obama administration for four years, you've done no entitlement reform. put something on the table. >> i'd like to see how all the negotiations are done. i support that. what's your second thing? >> on c-span, cnn can be there, too. secondly, when it's finished, when it's decided, write it down. put it online for seven days. so the american people can read it. don't t.a.r.p. us again, rush us and say, sign this, sign this. it's really good. let the american people read it. if we do those two things lindsey graham will not be voting for tax increase because he'll be able to find out exactly what's in it and no one will get tricked into thinking there are real spending cuts when there aren't or the tax changes are diminimous when they're not. why do the taxpayers want it

open -- >> i would like to see it on cnn and c-span for sure. we always like talking to you about this. grover norquist is going to be talking to piers morgan more time tonight. obviously at 9:00 p.m. eastern time here on cnn. >> soledad? >> yes, grove egrover. >> get a picture of me with a smile. >> do we not have you smiling? >> you have a grumpy picture of me. >> you rarely smile, grover. >> i really don't like when they use grumpy pictures of people. i hate that. i'm going to fix that. i'm going to personally handle that for you. >> freeze that right there. >> right to john berman, update the rest of the top stories making news. >> you made some big news. saw grover norquist's teeth. 11 minutes after the hour. big announcement, the fragile cease fire with hamas. defense minister ehud barak. >> translator: changes in the

positions of power is a good thing. there are many ways to contribute to society and the country and not necessarily through politics. meanwhile the egypt today president mohamed morsi meets with judgments to explain his edict on -- critics say it puts way too much power in morsi's hands. brick and mortar stores basking in the afterglow of black friday. online retailers hope the magic extends through today, cyber monday. black friday web sales broke the $1 billion mark for the first time this year. online retailers typically offer deals after the four-day week d weekend. this year is different. online deals started almost a full week earlier. officials have finally figured out what caused a massive gas explosion last week in western massachusetts. they say it's human error. the blast leveled a springfield strip club. at least 21 people were injured including 12 firefighters and two police officers. gas company officials say a utility worker inadvertently

punctured a hole in a high pressured gas line while responding to a call about a gas odor. he says the threat there isn't over. >> we found one leak and repaired that leak. i'm not willing to say at this moment there is no other leak in the general area. >> gas lines in the area are still being checked this morning. get ready. a record power ball jackpot up for grabs wednesday night. wednesday's jackpot will be worth at least $425. the cash payout if you take the cash option would be a record $278 million. it could go higher depending on ticket sales which obviously will be very, very high. >> wouldn't that be awesome? i want to win that so desperately. >> we would not see you thursday. >> you would not hear from me

ever again. still ahead this morning on "starting point," that fragile cease fire is holding in the middle east. will a meeting in cairo today solidify it? we'll talk with the palestinian liberation organization coming up next. he's just a college sophomore. he's now in the history books. jack taylor joins us to explain how he was able to pull off that record setting 138 points in just one game. that's straight ahead. s. it's the aarp medicarerx saver plus plan from unitedhealthcare. with this plan, you can get copays as low as a dollar through a preferred network pharmacy like walgreens -- where you'll find 8,000 convenient locations. best of all, this plan has the lowest part d premium in the united states -- only $15 a month. open enrollment ends december 7th. so call today or visit your local walgreens. [ female announcer ] holiday cookies are a big job.

everything has to be just right. perfection is in the details. ♪ get to holiday fun faster with pillsbury cookie dough. this monday online only. get the droid razr by motorola in cranberry, free. or a white 7-inch samsung galaxy tab 2, just $99.99.

this holiday, get the best deals on the best devices on the best network. exclusively at verizon. in that time there've been some good days. and some difficult ones. but, through it all, we've persevered, supporting some of the biggest ideas in modern history. so why should our anniversary matter to you? because for 200 years, we've been helping ideas move from ambition to achievement. and the next great idea could be yours. ♪

welcome back, everybody. overnight israeli defense minister ehud barak announced his resignation effective in january. this as top hamas officials resume negotiations in cairo today over the cease-fire between israel and hamas. on thursday mahmoud abbas is expected to appear before the u.n. general assembly in a new bid for palestinian statehood. a move that despite earlier

reports from abbas offices doesn't have the support of hamas leaders in gaza. what do all these events mean for lasting peace? executive committee member for the palestinian association, appreciate it. let's begin with negotiations in cairo today. what kind of progress do you expect to see? >> well, progress -- the initial step of cessation of violence has taken place. now the steps that deal with the substance and with more longer term arrangements such as lifting the siege. these steps have to take place. lifting the maritime blockade, sea blockade around gaza. leaving the territory and waters, also air space. more importantly all the crossing points by land. lifting the blockade would mean that gaza is resuming some sort

of normal life again despite the israeli occupation. and that the palestinian people of gaza would begin a whole new phase. and that would be a very positive step towards not just conciliation but also peaceful negotiations. >> the talks this week, the palestinian authority president is also hoping as i mentioned to resurrect palestine's bid for sta statehood. he said this to supporters on saturday. we're on our way to the united nations. there are lots of states supporting us who support peace and justice. all the factions are with us in going to the united nations. do you -- there are some diplomatic snags, i think it's fair to say. >> yes. >> abbas's office says hamas supports the move. hamas spokesperson said in the jerusalem post, in fact, they don't support the move. explain to me how you're going to be able to navigate this.

>> yes. no, we're navigating it very easily because the official statement came out today. yesterday there was a bit of confusion from different hamas sources. but they called the president today and told him he's fully supportive of this move. the hamas official spokesperson came out and said hamas as a whole supports this move and stands behind it. so we really have unanimous total support for going to the u.n., the general assembly, and for getting the application to state status, enhancing our presence and enhancing, of course, our internal political realities as well as our international standing. and getting the recognition of our boundaries and of the fact of the palestinian territory including jerusalem is occupied perty and not disputed territory up for grabs by israel. this is a very significant step. it will enable us to interact with the rest of the world on the basis, at least the minimal

basis of parity and equality. it will also curtail israeli violations, we hope. and israel will understand that it cannot continue its subjugation of a whole nation and its total denial of our rights and our freedom and, of course, basically our right to certain -- to live in dignity and sovereignty of our own land. >> final question about the egyptian president, mohamed morsi. while he's now dealing with some issues in egypt about his sort of expanding his own personal powers, he's also been brokering the cease-fire and potentially piece. how complicated and challenging is that going to be? >> mm-hmm, yes. that's complicated for president morsi for several reasons. number one, he has to respond to egyptian public opinion. number two, egypt is also a major player in palestine and is a major ally of hamas. and wants to play the role of

reconciliation as well as a mediator between hamas and israel. and wants to help the palestinians move ahead in the u.n. and otherwise. so we think of egypt as a friend of all of the palestinians, not just one faction. and at the same time, there are steps that have been taken knowing that also morsi has to respond to the international community, particularly on economic issues. and the u.s. in particular has made it clear that they would like egypt to play a positive role in the region. and if egypt wants to continue to get its military assistance as per previous agreements. so the moves to consolidate power in his hands are moves that are not precedented. and these haven't been very well received as we see from the egyptian public. and it seems to me that the last word has to be with the egyptian people and we hope that morsi can -- president morsi can navigate through these turbulent

waters in a serious and responsible manner. because egypt as a major arab country is needed as a peacemaker, as a mediator and as the center of stability. we cannot afford to have egypt destabilized in the region. >> plo executive committee member joining us this morning. nice to have you with us. thank you for being with us. got to take a short break. we're back in just a moment. americans are always ready to work hard for a better future.

since ameriprise financial was founded back in 1894, they've been committed to putting clients first. helping generations through tough times. good times. never taking a bailout. there when you need them. helping millions of americans over the centuries. the strength of a global financial leader. the heart of a one-to-one relationship. together for your future. ♪ welcome back to "starting point." it's cyber monday, a day historically devoted to

breathless enthusiasm over competitive shopping. the same america that celebrating doorbuster, the same american conically underprepared for college savings and retirement. in the spirit of the holiday season a smart is the new rich list. number one, make a list. you will be bombarded today with online promotions. the retail industry has branded this cyber monday. the hope is you'll spend more money today after a weekend of spending money. you're up against millions of dollars in advertising trying to get you to spend more than you want on stuff that you don't need. resistance is not futile. number two, if you can't afford it, put it down. the same america that's arguing now about how to pay for what we've already spent, you don't have to do that at home. if you can't pay for it this month or next month, don't get it. number three, if it pays to wait, deal news says better deals for high-end hd tvs, winter clothing and toys are ahead. it pays to wait. number four, if you must, make sure shipping is free. a majority of retailers will be offering free shipping. you might as well go for that.

number five, always save first. the personal savings rate is down to 3.3%. that is not enough to fund the kids' college, to fund your retirement, to fund a rainy day fund, to fund the nest egg in which you grow forward and make sure you're growing well and not spending well. bah humbug. >> but you're going to have money at the end. bah humbug but she's going to have a savings account. >> those retail sales come in, oh, my god. what happened? we didn't spend like we should spend. we going to play that game. >> ahead on "starting point" a major prescription drug is being recalled. glass was found in some bottles. a crucial piece of evidence in the casey anthony case was missed. would it have changed the investigation? we'll talk about that. plus, he's just 5'10". the college basketball phenom is already in the history books. we'll talk to jack taylor about his record setting 138 points in just one game. on, diarrhea, gas, bloating? yeah. one phillips' colon health probiotic cap each day helps defend against these digestive issues with three strains of good bacteria.

approved! [ female announcer ] live the regular life. phillips'. a new way to save on your prescriptions. it's the aarp medicarerx saver plus plan from unitedhealthcare. with this plan, you can get copays as low as a dollar

through a preferred network pharmacy like walgreens -- where you'll find 8,000 convenient locations. best of all, this plan has the lowest part d premium in the united states -- only $15 a month. open enrollment ends december 7th. so call today or visit your local walgreens. and with my bankamericard cash rewards credit card, i love 'em even more. i earn 1% cash back everywhere, every time. 2% on groceries. 3% on gas. automatically. no hoops to jump through. that's 1% back on... [ toy robot sounds ] 2% on pumpkin pie. and apple. 3% back on 4 trips to the airport. it's as easy as... -[ man ] 1... -[ woman ] 2... [ woman ] 3. [ male announcer ] the bankamericard cash rewards card. apply online or at a bank of america near you. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 after that, it's on to germany. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 then tonight, i'm trading 9500 miles away in japan.

tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 with the new global account from schwab, tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 i hunt down opportunities around the world tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 as if i'm right there. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 and i'm in total control because i can trade tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 directly online in 12 markets in their local currencies. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 i use their global research to get an edge. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 their equity ratings show me how schwab tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 rates specific foreign stocks tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 based on things like fundamentals, momentum and risk. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 and i also have access to independent tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 firms like ned davis research tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 and economist intelligence unit. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 plus, i can talk to their global specialists 24/7. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 and trade in my global account commission-free tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 through march 2013. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 best part... no jet lag. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 call 1-866-294-5409 tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 and a global specialist tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 will help you get started today.

welcome back, everybody. you're watching "starting point." john berman. >> the second time in just three days a fire has broken out at a garment factory in the capital city of bangladesh. the morning's fire is under control with no deaths reported. at least 120 workers were killed in a factory fire there saturday night. officials are still trying to figure out what caused the fire. the eight-story facility is opened by tazrin fashion limited which manufacturers products for walmart and other companies in the u.s. and europe. a stunning admission by florida sheriffs who investigated casey anthony in the murder of her daughter, caylee, in 2008. they say they failed to spot on a computer in casey's home that a google search was made for, quote, foolproof suffocation techniques the day the little girl vanished. orlando tv station wkmg first reported the story. she was acquitted of the murder. prosecutors say it's a shame they did not have this

potentially key piece of evidence. hurricane sandy has sparked a new jobs initiative in new york city. temporary jobs for 5,000 young adults are being offered in areas hard hit by the storm. any adult age 18 through 24 affected by sandy can apply. >> when you look at communities like this, it's this community -- it's that age bracket that has the highest unemployment. so we're doing a two-fer here. we're trying to tackle the unemployment problem in an area like this where the unemployment for that age group can run as high as 36%, 40%. >> these jobs will be for short-term and long-term projects aimed at rebuilding communities damaged by sandy. the weatherman didn't predict this third quarter shower that delayed the seahawks/dolphins game in miami yesterday. we're told the stadium sprinkler system malfunctioned. it thought it was saturday for some reason. it went on its saturday watering schedule. players did manage to dry off. dolphins beat the seahawks 24-21. in sunday night football the

new york giants, they looked good. finally playing like the defending champions to end their two-game november swoon. they routed the green bay packers 38-10. eli manning tossed three touchdowns for big blue. the loss knocked the packers out of first place. they were in a first place tie in the nfc north with the chicago bears. this is the performance everyone is talking about this morning. lindsay lohan making her acting comeback if you can call it that as the late great elizabeth taylor in lifetime's "liz and dick." the movie, it was full of really just kind of campy melodrama like this scene where she meets richard burton on the set of cleopatra. >> in case you haven't guessed, i'm -- >> richard burton. oh, i'd shake your hands but my nails -- >> oh, yes. likewise. has anyone ever told you, you're a very pretty girl. >> that clip is very revealing. critics were quick to pan lohan

and the movie. the new jersey star ledger and san francisco chronicle said they were hoping for so bad it's good. both said "liz and dick" was just plain bad. >> crushed on twitter. it was bad. i didn't see it. >> i thought she really looks like -- they did a great job. >> so much has happened. >> this is sort of like the sequel to "the parent trap." >> she has issues. >> moving on. >> it's all yours. >> yes. i'll take it. let's talk about sports, shall we? here's a young man who made sports history. college sophomore jack taylor. see this? scored 138 points during a basketball game last week against faith baptist bible college. smashes the ncaa record for the most points scored in a single game. needless to say his team won. 179-104. taylor is 5'10", 170 pounds from

black river falls, wisconsin. shot 52 of 108 from the field which comes out to a shot every 20 seconds or so. he joins us this morning via skype from iowa. nice to talk to you. i guess congratulations first are in order. you were averaging roughly 23 points per game before the big game. what do you think happened that day? >> yeah. i think it was -- i think it was kind of a once in a lifetime thing that happened. coming into the game, i knew i was going to get more shots than usual. but i definitely hit more shots than i thought that i would. and at halftime when i had 58, my team and coaches kind of gathered around me and were going to get me the ball every time down the floor. so this record wouldn't have been possible without my unselfish teammates. >> it's interesting. some people are giving you a little flak about the selfishness thing.

stewart scott on espn said this. >> not a big fan of jack taylor's 138 points in grinnell win. he took 108 shots and 71 threes. basically insinuating you were a ball hog. how do you respond to that? >> yeah. i mean, i -- i definitely was a ball hog. but my teammates kept giving me the ball. when i would pass it off to them, they would try to get me the ball right back. because they knew i was hot. in the second half, we started going for the record when my shots were falling. so it was -- it was a team effort to get me the ball and they kept encouraging me to shoot. which only gave me more confidence. >> what did you have for breakfast that morning? >> i think i had cereal or something. i don't think i had anything out of the norm, though. >> jack, real simple. if you were throwing up bricks,

your teammates would not have been passing you the ball. and in sports, everybody says, when you have a hot hand, you keep feeding the beast until they miss. >> that is team work. >> right. >> so kobe bryant who plays a little ball himself, he said this. wow. that's impressive. he's talking about your game. that's crazy. i don't care what level you're at, scoring 138 points is pretty insane. then you had another game. and i believe you were at 21 points. did it feel disappointing? did it feel crushing? everybody now watching. they want to see a repeat of the 138 points. and like, no. >> i don't really know what people expect of me. whether they expect me to go for record numbers every night. but i'm not going to take that many shots for the rest of the season. so i think my numbers are going to be a lot lower. and i'm just going to kind of be

just the above average player again. >> so does that mean you're not thinking about the nba career or are you going to fall back on the biochemistry major? >> yeah. i definitely want to play professionally. i think more realistically, i would have opportunities overseas to play professionally. >> is he really a biochem major? >> he is. you're a biochem major, right? >> yeah. >> are you going to researcher? doctor? i'd let you be my doctor. depending what kind of doctor he is. what did he say? >> i was hoping to go to pharmacy school. >> interesting. >> be a pharmacist. >> fantastic. congratulations to you. jack taylor, 138 points in an acaa. >> keep jacking jack. go ahead. keep shooting. >> we're rooting for you. that was great fun. thanks for being with us. >> also an incredibly poised,

charming, smart guy. >> really self-aware. >> those midwesterners. i tell you. still ahead on "starting point," parade confetti had confidential information on it. the surprising source of all those little paper pieces that were coming down during the macy's thanksgiving day parade. his new memoir gives behind the scenes looks at all the celebrities he's worked with from fred astaire to amy winehouse. my conversation with tony bennett is up next. that's right. i've learned the only way to get a holiday deal is to camp out. you know we've been open all night. is this a trick to get my spot? [ male announcer ] break from the holiday stress. save on ground shipping at fedex office. it's cramping. go ice that thing. sorry. hand cramp. ahh. [ male announcer ] cyber monday is back. shop now for great savings with free shipping. the first and only place to go for cyber monday. walmart.com.

[ gordon ] for some this line is a convenience. how you doing today? i'm good thanks. how are you? i'm good. [ gordon ] but for others, it's all they can afford. every day nearly nine million older americans don't have enough to eat. anything else? no, not today. join me, aarp, and aarp foundation in the drive to end hunger by visiting drivetoendhunger.org.

welcome back, everyone. quick look at some of the top stories this morning. popular prescription medication

used to reduce cholesterol is under recall. 41 patches are being pulled from pharmacies because they may contain small particles of glass. this is the generic version of lipitor. an investigation is under way here in new york about confetti used at the macy's thanksgiving day parade. this really happened. police want to know why shredded police documents containing information such as social security numbers, addresses, phone numbers, even the names of undercover detectives ended up as confetti. in florida the state there is drawing heat for an unusual sex survey. the rather personal surveys have been sent to nearly 4,000 women between the ages of 18 and 24. among the questions, how many men have they had sex with in the past year and how they felt emotionally the last time they had unprotected sex. state health officials stress the surveys are voluntary and say more than 780 have been filled out. those who returned the surveys

get a $10 gift card from cvs. >> why is that controversial? sounds like basic questions. >> it's a survey. >> by the government? >> oh, the government's a huge survey -- >> the federal government and state government spend a lot of money on survey research. >> how you feel after sex? >> i assume they're trying to figure -- >> you have research for all kinds of information. state funding for health programs. all kinds of different ways you can use data. >> or don't fill it out. chuck it out. still ahead this morni inin "starting point," going to talk to tony bennett. a new memoir out and new duets cd. absolutely, positively has no intention to slow down any time soon. that's straight ahead on "starting point."

welcome back, everybody. six decades in the music business isn't slowing down legendary singer tony bennett. a new documentary, "the zen of bennett." a new duet cd which features latino singers and a new memoir called "life is a gift: the zen of bennett." on top of all that, in his free time, he paints. i had a chance to sit down with him in manhattan. >> talk to me about your career which has now lasted six decades. >> right. >> think for most artists, honestly, they fall out of relevance. at some point they just can't sort of keep up with all the changes. they lose their audience. why do you think you've been so successful and so relevant? >> well, i think it's because i love what i do. i just did my own thing, you

know. i just learned that -- to never compromise and only do quality songs. never cheat the audience. give them the best songs that they can listen to. the most intelligent songs. and by doing that, the songs last forever. >> your documentary takes place as you're really recording duets, the second duets album. have you loved doing those duets? i mean, you have one where you're performing, we see it in the documentary, with lady gaga. >> i'm so nervous. >> no, no, no. >> what was she like? >> extremely talented. she's a beautiful singer. she's really -- people don't really -- i know how popular she is right now. she plays to 40,000 people a night. but she really has a magnificent

voice. and i think they're going to find out that she's -- she's as good as right up there with ella fitzgerald. she's a very good singer. >> how about amy winehouse? in the documentary you see a lot of talent. but it's also sort of sad, too. it was her last recording, i think. >> it was her last recording. ♪ i spend my days >> she was an authentic, great jazz singer. of all the contemporary singers i've ever met, she was the most talented one. she was a true jazz singer. and her mother, she said, i feel that in a very short time, she accomplished becoming famous. and that's what she wanted to do. so she considered her daughter, even though it was a quick life, she said she attained success. >> she lived a lot in her short life span. do you ever talk to her about her drug use? i talked to her father a lot

since her death. and, you know, he was always very open about her drug use. in your book you write that you really wanted to talk to her about drug use. >> it was mostly liquor that killed her, though. i tried to tell her. i didn't get a chance to do it. she died before i could tell her to slow down. >> quiet on the set. >> silencio. >> this particular e with latin artists has christina aguilera and mark anthony and cheyenne and gloria estefan, just to name a small handful. but i heard that you weren't necessarily that interested originally in taking on the project. >> i didn't understand it. but, you know, it turned out to be my favorite one of the all the duet albums because they sing beautiful, all of them. i wish in america and in britain the music business would be like the latins. the style that the latins like.

their music lasts forever. they sing right from the heart. a lot of feeling. the public that hears those -- that music loves it so much, they could play it over and over again. it doesn't sound obsolete. >> what was the best advice you got? a lot of your book was about sort of the life you lived, advice you got, some of the mistakes you made and the tough times you had. what was the thing that you think was the best advice you got? >> it was fred astaire. he said you have to know, you know, that less is more. and don't -- don't do too much on the stage. know when you have to leave. >> do you still practice music every day? >> yeah, i love it. >> you do? >> i don't get tired of it. >> the scales and the basic building blocks of being a good artist? >> right. >> every day? >> i love it, yeah. >> so then what's next? >> who knows. i'm just reveling in the fact that i have one hit album after another with these duets.

♪ and to be you >> i just like to continue to improve as i get older. >> "end point" is up next. ♪ ♪

[ female announcer ] holiday cookies are a big job. everything has to be just right. perfection is in the details. ♪ get to holiday fun faster with pillsbury cookie dough. make a wish! i wish we could lie here forever. i wish this test drive was over, so we could head back to the dealership. [ male announcer ] it's practically yours. test drive! but we still need your signature. volkswagen sign then drive is back. and it's never been easier to get a jetta. that's the power of german engineering. get $0 down, $0 due at signing, $0 deposit, and $0 first month's payment on any new volkswagen. visit vwdealer.com today.

time for "end point." i love that graphic so much. who wants to start me off? >> i think we should realize the fiscal cliff didn't pop out of the sky. the same people who have just been unable and unwilling to get us out of debt are now claiming that we have to do x, y and z and i think we're stuck between s sankty mony and hypocrisy. according to a new post this morning the 364 items in the 12 days of christmas will cost

$107,000 this year. up 6% from last year. not a black friday special. >> five end points. i like that last one. >> rowland? >> we were talking about sports all morning. it's crazy in college football. they say a freshman should not win the heisman trophy. johnny of texas a&m should win the heisman. he'she best in the country. >> only story you care about. >> of course. might be some mheisman voters. >> warren buffett. excellent, powerful piece "new york times" in the about taxes on the rich. he says the rich have been just beating the middle class in the economy over the past three decades. he has some great statistics. he also says this notion that rich people like him will stop working hard and investing if taxes go up is crazy. he says, i made a lot of money in the '50s, in the '60s when taxes were higher. it's time for us to pay up. a very powerful piece.

>> he starts off that piece "new york times" in the saying an investor you had miadmire comesd says i've got this great deal. i'm in. you should be, too. would you reply it all depends on the tax rate on the gains i'm going to make. if the taxes are tie hioo high goes on to slap grover norquist. >> that's not fair. >> in this piece he actually says he's in favor of higher taxes for the rich. but he actually disagrees with the president at what level shah should kick in. he thinks it should be half a million. very interestingly, he says at the very, very top it should be a minimum rate of 35%. >> i think it's going to be very interesting to see the impact all of this has and this conversation has on grover norquist. this tax pledge, as much as he likes to distance himself from it which he's been doing a lot of